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Monday, September 17, 2018

Laura Tyson and Lenny Mendonca — Universal Basic Income or Universal Living Wage?

Asking the right question.

The challenge for the future of work is not really about the quantity of jobs, but their quality, and whether they pay enough to provide a decent standard of living. In the US, ensuring that they do starts with raising the minimum wage and ensuring that other existing tools don't go unused.

Pavlina needs to get in contact with Laura and set her straight.

Similarly, proposals in the United States for a federal jobs guarantee have been gaining momentum on the traditional left. But while such a program could employ millions of workers to deliver basic public services and rebuild and modernize the country’s dilapidated infrastructure, it is no more feasible than a UBI, given current federal budget constraints.

BTW, government spending is now going full blast, deficit and debt be damned. What constraint?

But this is correct.

The challenge for the future of work is not really about the quantity of jobs, but their quality, and whether they will pay enough to provide a decent standard of living.

Project SyndicateUniversal Basic Income or Universal Living Wage?
Laura Tyson, Interim Dean, Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School
Faculty Director, Institute for Business & Social Impact, Haas Business and Public Policy Group at the University of California, Berkeley, and former chair of the US President's Council of Economic Advisers Group; and Lenny Mendonca, Chairman of New America, ands Senior Partner Emeritus at McKinsey & Company